


The Houses Of Healing

by orphan_account



Category: Bleach
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-03
Updated: 2012-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-03 00:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“As if you could ever scare me… Shock me, maybe, but you could never scare me. Just… Show me,” she said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Houses Of Healing

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, this is a rewrite because I wrote and published the original version on FF.net back in 2008 and it’s 2012 now. The title is from the song of the same name from the extended soundtrack for “LOTR - Return of the King” for no real reason other than it’s what I was listening to when I was writing this. If you want some mood music while you read, you can start listening to it when she finally convinces him to show the mask. Also, let your imagination figure out when this fic takes place? Because I don’t even know when it does.

————————————-

She had noticed right away.

Over the course of the last week or so, the Hollows had been swarming the area and he had no choice but to use his Bankai and his Vizard abilities for finish them off quickly.

He took the ones in the air, she took the ones that stuck to the ground. A few swings of their blades and it was over.

But the second he would come back to her, he would keep his back turned before allowing his mask to disappear.

She noticed this.

She decided that she didn’t like it.

————————————-

A week later, another swarm of Hollows had gathered in the park. They reached them before they could run off and attack innocent people.

When Ichigo came back down, Rukia was quicker this time. With all of the strength she could muster, she pulled him by the shoulders and forced him around, pushing him into a nearby tree.

She caught a small glimpse of dark red and white before disappeared in a puff of black and red tinged energy.

“What are you doing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I want to see it,” she said simply.

“… See what?” he asked, looking to the side before looking back at her.

“Your mask.”

“… Why?”

Rukia glared at him, small hands still gripping his shoulders.

“I haven’t seen it.”

“And?”

“Everyone else has seen it.”

“So?”

“So stop giving me one syllable answers and show me.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

She narrowed her eyes at that.

“Why wouldn’t you?” she asked, her grip loosening.

Ichigo looked back at her, eyes hesitant.

“I… I don’t want you to…” he said, trailing off.

Rukia’s eyes softened at his words. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“When Inoue saw it… She was afraid.”

*

She let out a little scoff and said, “Really… You think I’d be afraid of you?”

He opened his mouth to retort when she silenced him with a look.

“As if you could ever scare me… Shock me, maybe, but you could never scare me. Just… Show me,” she said.

Her smile was gentle and her hands had slid down from his shoulders to his forearms, fingers lightly gripping his sleeves.

He swallowed down the lump in his throat before focusing his eyes on her. He pulled her down with him, seating himself at the foot of the tree with her kneeling between his legs.

She saw the black slither into the whites of his eyes and amber become bright yellow. 

He brought his hand up, long fingers curled and poised like they were pulling at the air in front of his face.

The mask materialized in a matter of seconds. Rukia’s eyes widened at the sight of him.

The stark white of the bone. The dark crimson of the stripes that marked the side. The sinister teeth that lined the bottom where Ichigo’s mouth would be.

She slowly reached out a hand to touch the mask. He noticed her hesitancy.

“Why are you so nervous now? You’re the one who wanted to see it,” he said, his voice heavy and distorted, as if there was another voice speaking beneath his.

Rukia gave him a light glare before she inched herself a bit closer to him, chests nearly touching.

She was surprised at how smooth the white surface of the mask was. She mentally compared it to an eggshell, only thicker. She slid along the stripes, tracing them with her fingertips.

“They used to be a lot smaller.”

“Until you learned how to control it.”

He chuckled lightly at her statement.

She nearly shivered at the sound of it.

Rukia looked at the teeth at the bottom of the mask. Her fingers hovered over them, looking up at Ichigo with a questioning eyebrow.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite,” he said, eyes crinkling in amusement behind the mask.

She grinned at his words. She tapped her index finger against them.

“So… You’re a lizard?” she asked, bringing her other hand up to grip the edges of the mask.

He stopped her then, his hands shooting up to wrap around her wrists.

“Rukia.”

There was that damn urge to shiver again.

Resist.

Close eyes.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Open eyes.

She smiled at him, maneuvering her hands out from his. She straightened up, allowing herself to look down at him. She brought her hands up and gently lifted the mask from his face.

“It doesn’t matter, you know.”

He looked up at her. Black slithered away to reveal white. Yellow darkened into a warm amber. The mask in her hands disappeared.

“Mask or no mask, hollow or no hollow… You’re still Ichigo. Nothing else matters,” she said, lightly brushing the back of one hand over his cheek while the other gripped his shoulder.

Rukia could feel the warmth of his skin beneath her hand. The hand that had been at his shoulder rose up to rest on his other cheek. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his.

She felt Ichigo tense, like he wanted to bring his arms up and hold her closer than she already was.

“Besides, if you ever lost yourself, you know I would find you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to another friend on Tumblr.


End file.
